tuRTLES

[Deleted]

THRUSHFANG OF FIRECLAN

Thrushfang seemed to have a talent for landing herself in bad situations.

She'd been out for a walk that morning, hunting a bit as she went along, and ended up at the small pond near the border with TreeClan. The orange tabby had been so intent on stalking a mouse that she didn't notice the irate turtle behind her.

At least, until it snapped at her tail.

Now Thrush was padding into the medicine den with a wince. She wasn't entirely sure whether the tail could be salvaged - it sure was making a mess of the ground by leaving crimson smears all over. Just another unfortunate event in the drama that was her life.

WORDS: 114 || WRITTEN FOR: Crowwing & Willowpool

NOTES - n/a

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Willowpool]

I grimaced as I turned around to see quite a mess.  I scrunched my nose a shuffled over, skirting around the splattered and smudged blood on the floor.  "Er, what exactly happened here?  This is like a bobtail gone wrong."  Most of the tail looked to be intact and fine.  I'd think some grabbed the warrior from behind when you considered that she didn't seem to have any other fresh cuts.

"This really depends on if you want to loose it or try and keep attached.  The first could damage your balance and the latter could be useless and just mean you have a deadweight on the end of your tail."  I frowned at it and looked back into the depths of the den.

"Hey Crowwing, I think you need to provide some guidance and help here."  I called out to the head medicine cat, trusting that his words and actions would be more solid than my own.  "All I know is that we need to clean it out.  I'll grab some moss and dampen it."

[Crowwing]

Crowwing emerged from the back of the den, surprised to hear Willowpool's summons. Yup, that probably meant some cat was experiencing a scenario he didn't train the medicine cat in yet. Which meant it was something he did not really acquaint with himself.

"Did the kits play too rough with your tail, Thrushfang?" he mewed, trying to lighten the mood. What a strange situation and he did not really know whether the tail could really go back to being normal. "Willowpool is going to clean you up, and then you can choose to keep your tail or not, but you will probably have a slight difficulty balancing in the long run."

'Just like Sparrowfur's missing leg. . . Cobwebs. Goldenrod. '

Crowwing then stepped closer to the remains of the tail, noticing that it was really torn up. Kits wouldn't do that, meaning she was probably attacked, but her only injury seemed to be the tail. Strange. 'Burdock, not goldenrod.'

[Deleted]

THRUSHFANG OF FIRECLAN

Luckily enough, both medicine cats were here today. Thrush let out a quiet sigh and plopped down in the middle of the space. She'd gotten good at ignoring all sorts of pain ever since her apprentice days - but this was a new level, and rather difficult to brush aside. She gritted her teeth.

"I, uh… there was a turtle," the Toyger stated lamely. This whole event had been absolutely idiotic. She'd probably laugh about it if her tail wasn't nearly bitten in half.

But she had a decision to make, apparently, and neither option was very appealing. "Just take it off if you can't fix it," Thrush murmured after a long pause. Anything to get it to stop feeling like it was on fire.

WORDS: 124 || WRITTEN FOR: Crowwing & Willowpool

NOTES - n/a

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Willowpool]

{ i'm going to assume that there is a little puddle/pool of water within the den ovo }

I gave an apologetic smile to the warrior before heading into the back to snatch some moss and dip it in the small puddle.  I waited for a moment so I could wring out some of the water from the soaked foliage.  I then turned and headed back to the two cats, knowing I wouldn't enjoy the next few moments of my life.

I bent down and moved to clean out the messy looking cut.  A turtle had done this, huh?  I almost physically shivered when I thought about the possibility of this happening to my tail.  No thank you.  I lifted my head back up with brownish red moss and set it aside.

"Do we want to stop the bleeding first off and try to repair like a broken leg or just somehow snap it off?"  I was honestly hoping we could fix it because if I had to chew this she-cat's tail off, I wouldn't have the gut to eat for a long time.

[Crowwing]

weird. my post never actually posted.

A turtle? What was Thrushfang doing so far from home? Though the medicine cat himself never seen one, he now knew that they were dangerous creatures. Thank Cloudclan that Willowpool was doing the cleaning!

"We should try to repair it first." he declared, not really knowing how to handle this procedure. Broken legs, he fixed, but a tail? He cast Willowpool a look of uncertainty. This would be a first for the both of them.

"Thrushfang, you would have to be excused from your duties for a while though. I'm not sure how long it would take for you to be brand new."

[Deleted]

THRUSHFANG OF FIRECLAN

The tabby made a point of staring at her paws rather than looking back at her tail. All this blood was making her a bit nauseous. That was one of the reasons she'd never been big on fighting - battles were important, she knew, but they were always so messy.

Thrushfang could hear the uncertainty in both medicine cats' tones now. It wasn't exactly reassuring, so she tried to ignore it. But even then, a few thoughts slipped in - what if they make it worse, somehow? CloudClan…

"That's fine, I haven't had much to do since Firebird completed her assessme-" She broke off with a pained hiss as Willowpool set to work cleaning the injury. It had stung badly enough even before the prodding.

This was not going to be a fun procedure.

WORDS: 132 || WRITTEN FOR: Crowwing & Willowpool

NOTES - n/a

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Willowpool]

I looked at Thrushfang, trying to give a reassuring glance with my eyes despite the fact that I wasn't confident with the procedure myself.  "I'm hoping we can fix it like we can any other bone, considering it is one," I meowed, trying to be calm and focused.  I couldn't even imagine what was going through the she-cat's head right now as she watched two uncertain cats that were supposed to fix her.

"Okay, so a poultice of comfrey  leaves and... maybe chervil root to keep away infection?"  I was racking my brain to find something appropriate.  I couldn't decide if the injury was severe enough for goldenrod.  "Hmm, oh!  Do you want something to ease the pain?  I'm sure we have some poppy seeds; one would do you well."  I looked over at Crowwing with furrowed 'brows' looking for some approval of my ideas.

"Er... I'll go check in back for the supplies.  Try not to get that tail on the ground because I'm pretty sure neither of us want me to clean it again."

[Crowwing]

"I was going to actually suggest burdock. . ." he began, noticing that his voice was in fact growing more uncertain by the moment. "I do agree with the comfrey and chervil. Two remedies that should help out."

He tried to remain calm throughout the experience, knowing that if he fell apart, the other two she-cats would too.

"Willowpool will be right back with the supplies and we will do our best to save your tail." he promised, keeping a paw beneath Thrushfang's tail to ensure that it would remain in it's posture until Willowpool's return.

[Deleted]

THRUSHFANG OF FIRECLAN

She wasn't entirely sure whether the healers were trying to convince her or themselves at this point. In the back of her mind, she reasoned that this probably wasn't a common injury, so she couldn't blame them for not being confident. And besides, panicking wouldn't do any good right now.

Naturally, Thrushfang hadn't the faintest idea what these herbs were. But she had heard of poppy seeds before, and anything to help the pain in her tail would be more than welcome. "Poppy seeds would be great," the tabby replied as Willowpool headed off to search for the proper herbs.

With the tail in its current shape, moving it around was the last thing on Thrush's mind. She sat still and hoped that this entire ordeal would pass soon - all the blood was making a mess of the den floor.

WORDS: 140 || WRITTEN FOR: Crowwing & Willowpool

NOTES - n/a

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Willowpool]

I blinked a few times and then nodded my head quickly, feeling rather stupid. I was over thinking the injury, but I didn't want this cat to potentially lose one of their essential limbs.  I turned and gave another nod, this time to the warrior before disappearing back into the herb storage.  I nervously flitted in between areas, focusing my nose to be positive I didn't confused by the almost overwhelming scents.

I gathered a small, clean root with an intense sweet smell and dropped into onto a nearby milkweed leaf after checking to make sure the leaf hadn't been broken in case of the not-so-nice juices flowing out.  I paced around a bit more, looking for the other two ingredients.  My eyes caught on the big, grass green leaves of comfrey and a set of some slightly tan colored burdock roots.  I dropped a small portion of each onto the leaf before carrying the herbs back to the two.

"Would you like to make the poultice and I can apply it to the wound?"  I asked as I turned to look at Crowwing.  "I need to grab a poppy seed or two anyways."  I nodded, not waiting for an answer as I trotted back into the herb store to grab two of the seeds on another stray leaf.  In all honesty, I really did not like the tastes left in my mouth after making poultices.

[Crowwing]

"I can chew them up." he responded, not really minding the taste. He was growing older by the moon anyways. Crowwing took the burdock and began chewing the root to make it into something that can be useful for the patching up. Burdock was effective as a treatment for rat bites, so turtles would apply, right?

After the burdock was mixed into a poultice, he placed the remedy on a large dry leaf for Willowpool and began working on the comfrey leaves. By now, his jaw was awake and didn't mind all the chewing.

Was Cloudclan going to spare Thrushfang's tail?

[Deleted]

THRUSHFANG OF FIRECLAN

The two medicine cats were busy gathering the necessary herbs and preparing them now, leaving Thrushfang to her own thoughts. Which was a bad thing even on a normal day. At least the pain of the injury was keeping her from focusing too much on anything.

Her mind drifted to what might happen if she lost her tail. FireClanners didn't do a lot of climbing, fortunately, but maybe it would affect her balance while running or doing other things? Did any of the other prairie cats even have an injury like that? There was Sparrowfur with her missing leg, sure, but this wasn't quite the same. Thrush wasn't keen on setting this particular trend.

WORDS: 114 || WRITTEN FOR: Crowwing & Willowpool

NOTES - Willowpool, Crowwing

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Willowpool]

I picked up a new leaf in my jaws after checking to make sure it was clean. Poppy seeds... poppy seeds... where are they? I thought, trying to sort out my brain as I paced around.  The sight of poppy heads caught my quickly shifting glance.  I placed down the leaf and grabbed a head before shaking it out lightly.  Two seeds landed on the leaf with barely any noise. 

I appeared out of the herb store with the seed's transportation device carefully balanced in my mouth.  I set it down once again and nodded to Thrushfang.  These will make you tired along with lessening any current or oncoming pain.  I'd suggest you go rest with your tail laying on a clean spot to prevent any sort of new infection while it's healing."

I looked over at Crowwing and then the finished burdock poultice.  "You're really not going to enjoy this and neither will I, but the poppy seeds should kick in soon."  I picked up the leaf gently and sat down by the female warrior's tail.  I smeared the ointment into the raw cut with the leaf, making sure to cover all of the open flesh.

We were lucky the bleeding hadn't started over as heavy this time.  The poultice was already starting to block it up a bit.  With the other plants mixed in and a cobweb wrapped around it, the wound wouldn't be bleeding Thrushfang out anymore.  I put down the leaf and looked over to Crowwing.  "Alright, burdock has been applied."

[Crowwing]

you two can always reply without waiting for my response.<3

Once burdock was treated, the comfrey was complete and too, started applying the ointment onto Thrushfang's wound. Twice the amount of application - the budock and comfrey, but it seemed appropriate.